Tess Harwood - University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)

Tess writes 27 June 2014: I am thrilled to announce that I have been awarded a New Colombo Plan Scholarship! I will be going to study in Indonesia at the Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana for 6 months as well as doing an internship with a grass roots NGO and hopefully take Bapak Natalegawa's offer to intern at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta. I feel completely honoured to be given this scholarship and the opportunity on the 25th to meet with The Prime Minister Tony Abbott, The Governer General, the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Indonesian Ambassador Bapak Najib. I want to quickly take the time to encourage all students to consider learning an Asian language (especially Indonesian!). The Australian Government is putting a lot of effort and support into getting students into the Asian region and therefore there are more opportunities than ever to go to a country in the Asia region to study. So, learn Asian Languages!